Bokida Is A Nice Slice Of Fun

Share this:

Like serial killers and scrap-bookers, I like to collect things. I’m always on the hunt for a new, or at least underused, game mechanic. I believe the adorable Tiny & Big was the first time I encountered a slicing mechanic in games, back when the original demo was released many moons ago. Bokida doesn’t have Tiny & Big’s charm, and truth be told it’s currently not much of game. But the atmosphere and ability to build things up then dice them is a hint in the right direction, and still manages to be fun.
The sparse level has no goals, you’re simply in the world to make things and cut them up. Everything is built of cubes that you spawn. You can either click and build, plopping the boxes on each other, or you can click and drag, drawing out vast lines of blocky snakes from your well of unlimited cubes. To cut up what you’ve been building, you fire out cutting blades. The size of the blade depends on the length of time you hold the mouse, and the angle is altered with the mouse-wheel. A third tool lets you push over what you’ve sliced, or you can blast it into little pieces. It’s just for the love of a good brunoise.

You’re here to just look around the world, a white canvas with blocky growths and the odd monolith, and cut things in it. I did attempt a few structures: I stood on one plinth and created a looming tower of green blocks, then I dropped down, sliced through the base and shoved the tower over. I figured it would make a nice bridge, but the stressed structure collapsed and fell into a gorge.

It was made for Le Monde’s Hits Playtime contest. As you can see, there are plenty of other games there to play with.